In South Korea, AI phone calls check up on lonely seniors in a country ageing faster than Japan
- Is artificial intelligence the future of elderly care? That’s a question seniors at a home in Busan should ask their new friend ‘Clova’
- Clova CareCall is a new AI by Naver that checks in from time to time by giving them a call. Some prefer it to human contact, even if conversations can be limited
Yang Sun-im, a 76-year-old mother of four, isn’t used to company.
She has spent most of the past four decades alone, having divorced her husband when she was 33. The four children she raised on her own have all grown up, made new lives far away and largely forgotten her.
“My daughter who lives with her family in Japan visits me once every year or two,” she says. “She’s the only person who calls me on the phone from time to time.”
Even in the senior citizens’ home in the southern port city of Busan, South Korea, where Yang now lives, she can get lonely. She is younger than her peers and has found making friends difficult.
But recently, Yang made a new friend who seems eager to chat – even if their conversations can sometimes feel a little stinted.
